Wow! That's taken quite a beating! Are you resting a .270 against it at the range? Ha ha. My 1.75", purchased around 2002 ish, has held up really well, although I'm apparently not as active as you. A few dents a a few chips, and it's not truly flat anymore, but it has held up great. The back isn't discolored at all, although it's textured rather than smooth like the 1". I would like to mention that I take it off before going in the ocean. The sea has reclaimed many of my things.

The relief in the design on the 1 inch medallion is very shallow and has tiny areas for the cloisonne to fill compared to the 1.75 inch. I'm sure this is part of the reason for the difference between the two.

You've convinced me to order a 1.75 inch - Thanks!

Hail Satan!

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Originally Posted By: Phineas

My suggestion to you, besides obtaining a copy of The Satanic Bible and reading it, is to immerse yourself in the information contained at the Church of Satan website.

RollsRoyce is very correct about a persons body chemistry and its affects on metal. Also the environment you live and work in can affect the metal. Sadly, there is no perfect science to this, some people affect the metal more than others, and if you wear the item constantly, yes, it will degrade faster than someone who does not. For me, I wear my Medallions when I go out, I really have no need to wear it around the house. I also wear the medallion on the outside of my clothing, so it rarely touches my skin. When I take a shower, I take it off, Tap water has a lot of acidity in it and will degrade the metal. If you are out playing or working the metal should not touch your skin as sweat has a lot of acid and salt in it which is bad for any metal.

Now if the medallions were made out of Titanium or Platinum, in most cases they would be OK (similar to a wedding ring) and could be wore pretty much 24/7 but the cost of the item would be increased quite a bit (I would also have to look into whether it is possible to make the medallions in those metals).

Basically, if you wear the item constantly and subject it to daily wear and use, expect it to degrade. Standard jewelry care tips would work well in this case.

Remove your jewelry when:------------------------------- cleaning the house or using harsh chemicals.- putting on lotion, perfume, hairspray, shaving cream and other beauty products.- doing laundry.- swimming in the pool.- bathing.- experiencing extreme cold or heat - especially one right after the other.

To clean your jewelry:------------------------------ use warm water and mild soap.- rinse.- polish with a soft cloth.- dry your jewelry before storage.

As far as the shipping issues go, I am working constantly to increase shipping times. The Medallions currently have the longest shipping times as they are ordered in batches and are the most sold item on the Emporium. They sell out rather quickly. The Medallions can take up to 2 to 3 weeks to ship from the order placement, depending on stock availability. All other items usually ship within a week of the order being placed. The new structure of the Emporium is allowing me to fix some of the shipping issues. Do remember, though, the Emporium is completely voluntary for me, I do it out of the enjoyment of having the items available for everyone much more easily than when I first joined the CoS. I make no money from it, all profits go back into creating new items and server costs. I have a full time (over full time) day job that I love and I work on the Emporium (and undercroft, and servers and more) during the evening hours and on weekends. I have been doing this for over a decade now but one major change is that I also have a family now that requires a bit of my time. So, again I am trying as hard as I can to get things back up to speed but these changes take time.

I do appreciate everyone's comments and suggestions though, each one is helping to rebuild the Emporium and design its future!!

"We are superior, and are superior not by ethnic means, but by the superior force of the will -- the imagination, the creativity, and the very essence of resourcefulness, and survival, that is the heart and the very soul of the Satanist."~Anton LaVey

Sadly, pewter is just too soft of a metal, "other" people have created Baphomets in pewter and I even owned one a long time ago but the quality is horrible and if you bump it too hard, it dents really easily. I will have to see exactly what metal is used in the HKP Medallions, I know it is steel, but maybe they can get them made in surgical grade stainless steel which might help a bit.

Surgical grade steel... The 316 series steel is considered 'surgical' because it's good enough to use on tools. In order to be implant grade, the ASTM states it must be 316LVM (316 series steel with low-carbon and vaccum molded) otherwise it's for surgical tools, not for surgical implants. Grade 23 titanium would be suitable for someone with 'sensitive skin' (which is really an issue of PH balance, but anyway) although it is a VERY stiff metal. So is 316LVM.. Unless you anneal it.

Finally, I must agree that Magister Frost is worthy of great thanks for his constant effort and vigilance. I cannot state that enough.

Magister Frost is a beast!... I have done some programming and other related I T work myself and I can't imagine how overworked (busy) you must be most of the time. So I personally would like to thank Magister Frost for all his hard work...

As for the pendant that I ordered in the past... it was the pendant: Cloisonne Baphomet Medallion (One Inch Series) color white...

I would would guess from reading from the previous posts that my PH is pretty high. This is prob correct considering I run a pretty fast life as of right now... and my diet consists mostly on take out, fast food, and my works food (subs).... so i can imagine like i said that my PH is prob pretty high as everything i have mentioned is high in salt, sugar, and / or fat.

So for now on I will have to exercise proper care... and i thank you all for illustrating what conditions (in great detail) could alter my future pendant...

I would love to see some alternative metals being used! I am in need of a new 1.75" Baphomet as my current one, which I had only worn for a year, has severe "bubbling" in the cloisonne and corrosion of the base metal on the back. I haven't worn it much since then because I tend to quickly "wear out" jewelry that gets to this stage.

The Magister is correct though, pewter is just far too soft. Silver, Titanium, Stainless Steel (304, 316, etc), and Tungsten would be great materials to have Baphomets available in though.

Silver holds up very well against my skin and is my personal favorite; it does tarnish very quickly but after about a month builds up a protective passivating layer. Copper and Low Chromium content Iron based alloys do not generate this passivating layer and just continue to degrade faster and faster once the heavy corrosion starts in.

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"After an inferior man has been taught a doctrine of superiority he will remain as inferior as he was before his lesson. He will merely assume himself to be superior, and attempt to employ his recently learned tactics against his own kind, whom he will then consider his inferiors. With each inferior man enjoying what he considers his unique role, the entire bunch will be reduced to a pack of strutting, foppish, self-centered monkeys gamboling about on an island of ignorance. There they will play their games under the supervision of their keeper, who was and will always be a superior man." -Magus Anton Szandor LaVey (The Devil's Notebook, "Diabolica")

"We are superior, and are superior not by ethnic means, but by the superior force of the will -- the imagination, the creativity, and the very essence of resourcefulness, and survival, that is the heart and the very soul of the Satanist."~Anton LaVey

I just wanted to show how mine has been affected by wear: I wore it daily for 6 months before this happened, and stopped wearing it shortly after.

Only a very very slight discoloration of the metal that doesn't come through in photos, but the cloisonne has bubbled up and become quite dull, porous, and rough!

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"After an inferior man has been taught a doctrine of superiority he will remain as inferior as he was before his lesson. He will merely assume himself to be superior, and attempt to employ his recently learned tactics against his own kind, whom he will then consider his inferiors. With each inferior man enjoying what he considers his unique role, the entire bunch will be reduced to a pack of strutting, foppish, self-centered monkeys gamboling about on an island of ignorance. There they will play their games under the supervision of their keeper, who was and will always be a superior man." -Magus Anton Szandor LaVey (The Devil's Notebook, "Diabolica")